Denver beats Minnesota Duluth to win eighth NCAA title in program history

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For the eighth time in program history, Denver is back on top.

The No. 1-ranked Pioneers capped off a sensational campaign with a 3-2 victory over No. 2 Minnesota Duluth in the Frozen Four championship game Saturday night at the United Center.

Denver flew out of the gates, recording the game's first eight shots on goal and ringing another two off the post within seconds of each other. But the scoring didn't come until the second.

Sophomore winger Jarid Lukosevicius put Denver on the board by potting two goals in 16 seconds, the shortest two-goal span by a single player in championship game history, and capped off the hat trick in a 7:39 stretch.

It's the third-fastest hat trick ever in an NCAA title game.

The first? Denver coach Jim Montgomery when he scored three goals in 4:35 for Maine against Lake Superior State in 1993. That was also the last hat trick in a championship game.

"I did not know that's the first hat trick (in a title game since Montgomery), but I'm glad I'm part of both and I'm glad we won the championship on both nights," said Montgomery, who can add his name to the list of men who have won NCAA titles both as a player and coach.

But the Bulldogs didn't go down without a fight.

The club's leading-scorer Alex Iafallo scored in his second straight contest — and finished the season on a 15-game point streak — on the power play in the second period to cut Minnesota Duluth's deficit to 2-1 at the time, and Riley Tufte added one with 5:21 left in regulation, setting up for a nail-biting final minutes.

But Minnesota Duluth was on the losing end of a one-goal game this time, and its magic expired.

"Our team's behind, and you've got 20 minutes to win a hockey game and they went out there and played as best as they could," Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said. "Sometimes maybe you need a little luck, and maybe we ran out of puck luck. But we did what we had to do, and I couldn't be more proud of our guys to battle right to the end. It's pretty much been their character all year. They're a great group of kids, they never quit, they've got a strong will and we just came up a little short."

Denver survived thanks to a 38-save performance by Tanner Jaillet, the recipient of the 2017 Mike Richter Award for the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA men's hockey.

"Thank God we had the Mike Richter Award winner," Montgomery said. "I think everyone realizes why he won. He was incredible in the third period. His confidence and poise and how secure he was in controlling rebounds gave us confidence that we were going to be able to prevail."

In the process of staving off the Bulldogs in the third period, the Pioneers lost defenseman Tariq Hammond after he was stretchered off the ice with what Montgomery revealed after the game was "probably a broken ankle."

It galvanized the group, and it showed when Hammond was brought back out on the ice during the team's championship celebration and held up by teammates for the group photo.

"Seeing Tariq come back out was unbelievable," Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher said. "I was asking (Denver's Director of Hockey Operations) David Tenzer and a couple of the other guys was he going to be there, because I wanted him to be there to celebrate the victory with us. And it was amazing to see him to have the will and guts to stay and celebrate with us in the end."

It took three orthopedic surgeons to attempt to put Hammond's ankle back in place and into the air cast. Concern was heavy in the air.

But when Montgomery saw Hammond after the game, all Hammond kept saying was: "We did it."

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